Self
by Jiia-chan
Summary: At what point do you stop being the person you were, and become the hero you need to be? Is it when you first don the sacred green, touch the hallowed blade, vanquish the terrible evil? Or is it when you think of home, and it isn't the place it should be?


This was written before I finished the game. Mostly because I have a bad habit of not finishing games, just running around and beating every possible quest and doing everything I can think of before I just beat the freaking boss. Because I know that once the story is over I'll have no interest anymore and will just put the game away and not look at it for eons.

So I wrote my first ever Twilight Princess fiction. Don't expect much more.

If you review, please be kind enough to answer the following: Yes or no?

* * *

At what point do you lose what makes you who you are? At what point do you stop being yourself and exist only for the quest? When do you stop being Link of Ordon and become The Hero? Is it when you discard the clothing you've worn all your life for the green costume you're meant to wear? Is it when you step out of the shade of the forest and breathe the thick, rich air of the field for the first time? Is it when you trudge through the monster-infested bowels of a dungeon and wish for the clear blue sky arching endlessly overhead instead of the blue shadow of the mountains? Is it when you walk into the never-ending hustle and bustle of a town you've never been in and think, I'm home?

Is it when you look into the eyes of the girl you're supposed to love and feel nothing?

Or maybe, as I've begun to suspect, the moment when you truly stop being who you are, is when you stop thinking 'when this is over'.

When this is over, I'll teach Talo how to use a sword properly.

When this is over, I'll take Beth over to Zora's Domain so she can get to know Ralis better. The poor boy needs a friend, at the very least.

When this is over, I'll somehow change Renado's completely true opinions of Telma and make them live happily ever after.

When this is over, I'll teach Colin how to be brave without killing one's self.

When this is over, I'll strip off my clothes and dive into Lake Hylia from the top of the Great Hyrule Bridge just because I can.

When this is over, I'll finally work up the courage to ask Ilia out. It can't be any worse than rampaging demons from beyond the grave, can it?

When this is over.

I don't think about things like that anymore. I don't think about what I'll do when I've beaten every temple, defeated every boss. I don't think there's anything I CAN do. Going back to Ordon and herding goats would bore me out of my mind. I could join the Royal Guard, but they're all such idiots. I could probably make general if I wanted to, start training up a real defence force, but I'm a horrible teacher. Talo is proof enough of that. I could open up my own little business, escorting wagons and the like across the plains. I can see it now. Hero Tour Guides! Visit the temples and shrines of Hyrule with our authentic Hero! If he saved the world, he can certainly protect your next shipment of beats!

Who am I kidding? After this, anything else would seem hollow and empty. I'm seventeen, and I've already finished the greatest adventure our world has to offer. Nothing else will ever excite me again.

Not even her.

I've been doomed to fade into obscurity and legend, an old fart sitting in a tree house reminiscing about the good old days fighting evil. Pathetic. Pitied. After everything I've done, people will walk by and whisper 'poor old Link, he was so strong back in the day. Everyone loved him, even grumpy li'l Malo, though he'd never show it, stubborn little tyke.' And then they'd wave and just keep walking.

Like I was already dead.

Maybe that's what I am.

Dead.

I don't want it to end. I can think up a hundred and one excuses not to go fight Ganondorf. I'll take a sabbatical and do all those things I wanted to do when this is over. Who gives a damn what Midna says, right? The world can wait.

I want to live. I don't want to die. I don't even want to survive. I want to LIVE, Goddesses be damned! I deserve that much. If I have to sacrifice the rest of my life for this bloody country, I want to go into the afterlife with more than memories of this quest to show for it.

I know it's wrong. I know the kingdom is depending on me.

I know.

But for once in my life, I really don't care.

I'm going to be myself again.


End file.
